


Set Life

by staymagical



Series: Set Life [1]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Film Industry, M/M, costume department, film crew, film production, film set, film terms, sorry i'll try and explain them, welcome to my job
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-17
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-28 16:21:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15710877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staymagical/pseuds/staymagical
Summary: Merlin is embarrassed, Arthur is amused. There's teasing involved.





	Set Life

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Camelot Drabble prompt #326: random dialogue "I've been checking you out."
> 
> So I'm slightly sick of all the fics and stories about filming movies and tv shows that mainly romanticize an actor falling for a lowly crew member. Let's get real here and talk about what the crew gets up to behind the camera.
> 
> Inspired by my own real life on set experiences.

“I’ve been checking you out,” Mordred said under his breath, looking down at his hands. Merlin paused, fingers frozen in the act of reaching for Mordred’s tie.

“I’m **—** uh **—** ,” Merlin stumbled over his words, not quite sure if he had heard Mordred correctly. “I’m sorry what?”

Mordred looked up from his seat on the barstool, brows knit. “What?” 

In his periphery, Merlin spied Gwaine behind the bar, pulling out the hair spray from his kit to calm Kara’s locks. “Spraying,” Gwaine called before misting her hair and taming the wisps with sure fingers. Vivan was beside him, blotting oil from Kara’s forehead.

“You, uh **—** ?” Merlin didn’t know what to say to Mordred. He had never been hit on so bluntly by an actor. By anyone, for that matter. 

Mordred’s confused frown turned into annoyance. “Uh, no.” He held up his sides and shook them with obvious judgement. “It’s my line. In the scene,” Mordred finished. 

Merlin’s face heat up. He laughed, awkward and embarrassed. “Oh, uh, of course it is.” He busied himself, tugging on Mordred’s tie until it sat straight then quickly hightailed it off the set and back to the safety of the sound monitor with burning cheeks and a hurried, “Costume clear!”

Gwaine was not far behind, stashing the hair spray into his back pocket and grabbing his kit bag with his own call of “Hair clear.” 

Vivan followed. “Makeup clear!”

Merlin ducked behind the sound cart only to be confronted with Arthur sitting in his chair, headphones on, silently laughing.

As if he wasn’t embarrassed enough. Curse Arthur and his stupid lavs and his stupid face.

Merlin groaned as he fell into his set chair next to the sound mixer. “Not a word.”

“I should have recorded that,” Arthur said looking over at Merlin, still chuckling as he pushed one earpiece of his headphones back off his ear. “Would have made excellent blackmail material.”

“He was just talking aloud,” Merlin said, leaning back and crossing his arms with a huff. “How was I supposed to know?”

Arthur smirked, leaning back in his chair and flipping out his own folded and creased sides in an exaggerated fashion. Merlin tried not to find his teasing attractive. 

“If you read your sides **—** ”

“Oi!” Merlin shot forward, lightly smacking Arthur’s arm. “I do read them! Every day! Just don’t memorize every fucking line.”

“Obviously. Otherwise you would have picked up on it the last million times he’s said it today. On screen. Right there.” Arthur pointed toward the bar, smirk still firmly in place.

George’s voice cut through then, echoing in Merlin’s earpiece as it broadcast over the walkie. “Quiet on set!” With the first AD’s command, chatter devolved into a quiet hum of last whispered words on the set.

Merlin stuck out his tongue at Arthur, shifting his set kit around his waist so it sit more comfortably on his thigh. Then he leaned forward to better watch the built-in monitors in Arthur’s sound cart. 

“Roll camera,” George continued, “roll sound.” 

Arthur hit the record button before holding down another button at the back. “Twenty-one kilo, take one, “ he said into his microphone. A red record button appeared on the dual monitors on his cart just a few seconds later as camera followed suit.

A slate appeared on the monitors held by the young second AC. “Scene twenty one kilo, take one, common mark.” She snapped the slate and retreated off camera.

“Tell me when you’re ready.” George looked toward the camera operators. 

A camera operator responded, “set.”

B camera followed, “set.”

“Background action,” George shouted, voice carrying across the bar. The extras began milling about, pantomiming conversation, drinking out of glasses, and putting on the ruse of a full boisterous bar. 

Agravaine spoke up then from his director’s chair at video village, leaning toward the monitors before him. “Action Kara. And…” Agravaine paused, waiting until Kara had served the extra at the end of the bar. “....Mordred!”

Merlin watched the scene play out on Arthur’s monitors, focusing on the movement, the folds and fallings of the costumes with all his attention, double checking that every piece on Mordred and Kara was in place and sitting right as they brought the scene to life. He ignored the way his cheeks flared up as Mordred said his line, and he definitely ignored Arthur’s smirking glance. God, just bury him now.

“Cut!” Agravaine shouted. “Mordred, pick it up a bit, a little faster and more, suave. And don’t lean on the bar until Kara takes notice.”

Then the process started all over again. And again, and again.

Agravaine shouted, “Cut!” once more and immediately got up from his chair and approached the actors to have a chat. Merlin leaned back in his own chair, content to have a small break here while they discussed if they were going for another take or moving on.

“What would you have done?” Arthur asked, breaking the silence between them. Merlin looked at Arthur curiously, unsure what he meant. “If he had hit on you.”

“Oh god,” Merlin groaned. “Avoid him. Which would be impossible, clearly.” He gestured to their surroundings.

“I doubt that. You’d be swooning. The way you blushed,” Arthur grinned, teasing Merlin with an elbow to the ribs. Merlin could feel that very heat creeping up his neck and cheeks once more, this time for a different reason. “You like him.”

Merlin mimicked gagging, adding sound effects and gestures. “Nope, absolutely not. You should see the way he leaves his trailer at the end of each day. His costumes strewn about the couch with the crumbs and half eaten plates of food on every surface. No, I’ve been there, done that,” he said with a huff. Valiant’s haughty, arrogant face flashed to the forefront of his mind. He pushed the memory aside. “Actors are the worst.”

Arthur slid his headphones off to settle comfortably around his neck. He leaned over, eyes dancing. “Oh, this I have to hear.”

“We got it,” George’s voice cut in over walkie as him and Agravaine finished their discussion with the actors. “Moving on!”

The set let out a breath as everyone flew into motion to shift the world for the next scene.

“Sorry,” Merlin said with a sly grin and a wink at Arthur before he leapt to his feet, “duty calls.”

Merlin folded his chair in a single practiced movement and dashed after Gwaine and Vivan to head back to basecamp, unaware of Arthur’s eyes following him out.

**Author's Note:**

> Glossary of Film Terms:
> 
> AC: Assistant Camera. 1st AC pulls focus (focuses and refocuses the camera lens on an actor as they move throughout the scene). 2nd AC slates, marks actors placements, and takes record of everything for the camera dept.  
> AD: Assistant Director. They run the set and make sure things go smoothly and on time.  
> Background/extras: non-speaking filler roles in the background. Can be the most entertaining people you meet or the most annoying.  
> Basecamp: where all the trailers and trucks are set up  
> "Costume/Hair/Makeup Clear": announced when a dept member has finished looking over the actor right before they are about to shoot. Shows they have deemed them completely ready for camera. Not all 1st AD's request this been called out, only a select few. I feel like George would 100% be one of those select few.  
> lav: stands for lavalier microphone. Tiny little microphone (wired into a mic pack that also needs to be hidden though that's larger, like the size of a deck of cards) that sound dept hides under clothes so they can record the lines during the scene.  
> sides: printed out pages from the script of the scenes that are being shot that day. Printed small, on half sheets of paper so they are easily carried. And stashed into pockets that costumers will get annoyed at.  
> Sound Cart: there are so many variations but here's a type I see a lot on my sets. https://mhsecure.com/metric_halo/images/stories/News/Ledford_375.jpg  
> "Spraying": shouted out to give camera dept ample warning that something is about to be sprayed into the air so they can cover and protect the camera lenses.  
> Video Village: where monitors are set up so the director, producers, and crew can watch the scene as its filmed. Usually has a multitude of director chairs set up in front of it like a miniature makeshift village, hence video village.


End file.
